FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – After overcoming a second-half deficit to take a lead, the Washington and Lee women's basketball team fell by a 70-58 overtime score at Mary Washington on Tuesday evening.
Trailing by four points entering the fourth quarter, W&L (3-1) scored the first five points of the frame and also kept the Eagles (6-0) off the board for the first 6:49 before a layup from Sydney Sherman. Now down one, junior
Hanna Malik (Raleigh, N.C. / Athens Drive) made five straight at the foul line to give the Generals a four-point lead with 2:15. That margin held with 34 seconds remaining, until UMW made three jumpers, while the Generals went 2-for-4 at the free throw line to send the game to OT.
The Eagles then went on to outscore W&L, 14-2, in the extra period, with Mary Washington scoring the first nine points before a pair of Malik free throws.
W&L held a 7-3 lead early in the first quarter when first-year
Elka Prechel (Corvallis, Ore. / Corvallis) connected on three-point jumpers on back-to-back possessions to run the lead to 13-3 with 2:36 remaining. UMW answered with seven straight points, before another Prechel triple with 43 seconds left in the quarter put the Generals up six points heading to the second.
The Eagles then began the second quarter on an 11-2 run, including nine straight points to end it, to take a 21-18 lead with 6:43 left before halftime. Four straight W&L points were then answered with an 8-2 run by UMW to give the Eagles a 29-24 edge with just over a minute left.
The third quarter favored the home team by a 17-16 edge, as both teams traded scores throughout. The Eagles led by as many as seven points (45-38) with 1:12 left before the fourth quarter, but first-year
Mary Schleusner (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Latin School) helped keep the Generals within striking distance with a pair of buckets before the period ended.
Schleusner logged a team-high 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for her second double-digit rebound game and first collegiate double-double. Schleusner shot 5-of-10 overall on the night, and she also added three blocks and a steal. Malik scored 11 points, while junior
Grace O'Connor (Hillsborough, N.J. / Hillsborough), senior
Kathryn Vandiver (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Latin School) and Prechel each scored nine. Vandiver led those three players with nine rebounds.
Sherman led the way for UMW with a game-high 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting, to go along with seven rebounds. Keagan Schwab came in next with 18 points, nine rebounds and two steals.
The Eagles limited the Blue and White to 25.9 percent (15-58) shooting from the floor, including 20 percent (4-20) from long range, while connecting on 36.5 percent (27-74) of their total shots. The Generals led in both free throw makes (24) and attempts (32). With 24 made foul shots, it marks the first time since the 2017-18 season that the Generals made 20 or more free throws in back-to-back games.
The Generals will be back in action on Sunday when they host Swarthmore at 12:30 pm in Holekamp Gym.
